Dorking (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Benhamcastle; Benham-castle; Bonhamcastle

In the civil parish of Dorking.
In the historic county of Surrey.
Modern Authority of Surrey.
1974 county of Surrey.
Medieval County of Surrey.

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ165495
Latitude 51.23344° Longitude -0.33272°

Dorking has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Alleged Castle Site, noted by Aubrey in the 17th century as being located in 'Bonhamcastle Meadow, in which once stood a fortress destroyed by the Danes, of which nought now remains but a large ditch'. Subsequent searches for records or visible remains have been unsuccessful. (SHHER)

Mr. Aubrey observes that 'over against the church of Dorking is a meadow, called 'Benhamcastle' Meadow,in which once stood a fortress destroyed by the Danes, of which nought now remains but a large ditch.' (Bray, 1789) The earls had a manor house in Dorking: but though Aubrey mentions traces of a castle, there are neither records nor visible remains (VCH). Inspection of old maps at Kingston Record Office was negative. 1842 Tithe Map was not available for inspection. The area is completely built over (F1 ASP 07-JAN-60). (PastScape)

Comments

Entirely feasible site for a Norman castle and/or saxon thegnal site, not unusual in being wrongly attributed to the Danes. Aubrey mentions a ditch, not a mound, so not a misinterpreted barrow. Probably serious damaged even by the late C17 so what form this site actually took is unknowable but both the tenurial history and the location do favour this as the site of a early timber castle. A meadow 'over against the church' may suggest a site north of the church on the plain of the river in an area not particular built over but one which will have been subject to flooding and rapid alluvial infill of ditches.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 396906.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 82.

Books
- Malden, H.E. (ed), 1911, VCH Surrey Vol. 3 p. 146 online transcription
  Aubrey, J., 1719, Natural History and Antiquities of Surrey Vol. 4 p. 187
Periodical Articles
- Bray, Wm, 1789, 'Some account of a Roman road leading from Southampton by Chichester and Arundell, through Sussex and Surrey to London, so far as the same is found in Surrey' Archaeologia Vol. 9 p. 102 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Surrey County Council, 2006, Extensive Urban Survey - Surrey (English Heritage) Download copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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